


Ghosts

by magicandlight



Series: The States [30]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Halloween 2017, Hauntings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-22 02:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12471644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicandlight/pseuds/magicandlight
Summary: Ghosts are indescribable creatures.They are not human any longer, but they are not inhuman either. They are neither alive nor dead, mortal or immortal.





	1. prologue

_Ghosts are indescribable creatures._

_They are not human any longer, but they are not inhuman either. They are neither alive nor dead, mortal or immortal._

_Ghosts have the ability to recognize a personification on sight alone, much like the majority of magical creatures._

_Ghosts, again, like the majority of magical creatures, may choose if those without the sight can see them, and if they are particularly powerful, they can choose which of those with the sight can see them._

_The most powerful of ghosts seem to come from the most violent and unjust deaths. Therefore, it is best to leave powerful spirits alone, as they are often angry and violent creatures._

- _Arthur Kirkland's Grimoire, dated 1574; Currently in the possession of Evangeline Jones_


	2. one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring (Not in this order): Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Nicky throws a quarter down into the river, and shivers when he feels the cold that accompanies the ghost. "Hey, kid."

The boy sets the quarter on the railing. "Hello."

Nicky laughs. "Seen the Jersey Devil around lately?"

The boy shakes his head. "He doesn't like it over here anymore."

★★★★★

The ghost is sitting on the countertop, eating a donut. He's new, recently dead. He's young. Younger than Sasha and Lani are.

Eli leans against the counter. "Hello, what's your name?"

"My name's Bobby. What's yours?"

"Eli."

★★★★★

He doesn't know her name, yet he brings her pink carnations every year.

The Pink Lady smiles as she accepts the flowers. They match her dress. Scarlett had once worn one like it- though hers had been green, like Flora's eyes.

"Were you murdered?" David asks. He's been asking since he first encountered her. "I can help if you were."

The woman shrugs noncommittally. David stands finally, making his way towards the door.

"Bring your little siblings next time, will you? The children."

David stops. Lani and Alex have their own ghosts- and he knows Sam has taken them to see one of her's- but they hadn't been introduced to Lizzy Borden or the Bell Witch or even Beth Short because they were at times unpredictable. Amityville was on a never-going-to-happen list- they listened to Brooke occasionally, but there was a reason there were horror movies about that house.

The point is that ghosts may not be living anymore, but they can do damage.

But there is no malice in the Pink Lady, only mischief. And there is a difference. "Alright. I will."

★★★★★

Monty steps onto the bridge. "Hello, Emily."

She appears almost instantly, her form blurring slightly. "Hello, Montgomery." Emily sighs, gathering her skirts in her hands. "Ghost hunters, always coming to disturb my peace these days. Those automobiles were bad enough, but now there are people with their scanners. Can't you do something?"

Monty offers a sad smile. "Making the bridge a restricted place would just make it worse."

Emily sighs, and Monty takes pity.

"Alright, here's a deal, quit causing trouble and I'll do something for you."

"Do what?"

"Anything within reason."

Emily thinks for a moment, then looks up at him. "Remember me? You're the only one who really can."

★★★★★

The ghost is wailing again.

Josh winces, and wonders when she will realize her child is gone.

Hopefully, she won't be aggravated again. It had taken forever to calm her last time.

Josh sits a flower down before he leaves the ghost to her eternal search.

★★★★★

The Lady in Green only appears every seven years.

James likes talking with her.

She's smart, but James is always curious about what happened to her.

(She'd once confessed she didn't remember.)

Her black stallion whinnies, and the Lady in Green tips her hat and disappears.

★★★★★

Before he'd met his papa, Sasha used to visit Sitka a lot.

He'd spend hours talking to the Lady in Black- asking her about Russia and her home and Ivan.

And she would answer.

★★★★★

Oliver isn't a ghost person.

He was, however, a boy scout person, and when a bunch of boy scouts start haunting a place where there's no record of them dying at, he gets curious.

There is the issue about ghosts and memories, however. Sometimes, they don't remember how they died.

One of the boy scouts holds a compass, another holds a lantern, and the rest wait for the boy to decide on the direction. Oliver stands there with the flickering forms, watching as they attempt to navigate their way out of the forest. They never seem to realize that their compass doesn't work anymore.

★★★★★

Timothy wonders if the Bell Witch chose her age just to unsettle him.

If she did, it worked. A twelve-year-old with inky black hair crosses her legs as she sits on a rock, her translucent form flickering.

She hasn't shown violence since John Bell died and Betsey's engagement fell to pieces, but Timothy knows that she has cruelty in her.

On the other hand, she had always held a large measure of admiration and respect for Lucy and John Jr.

There is even some fondness for Tim himself- maybe even a measure of respect in her unnatural bottle-green eyes.   
•••  
"Goodbye, Bell Witch."

"That isn't my name."

"..........Goodbye, Kate."

★★★★★

Addison clutches her books tighter as the ghost materializes beside her.

"Ohh, a psych student."

There is a gloriously peaceful moment before he realizes she isn't human.

"What are  _you_?"

"Personification of Kansas, now if you will, I'm gonna be late if you don't move."

The ghost, who she now realizes is wearing a varsity football jacket, grins. "Well, I'm Nick, your friendly neighborhood ghost."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Jersey (Nicky)  
> ★Clinton Road Bridge Boy, who supposedly drowned at the bridge and whose ghost will return coins tossed into the waters.
> 
> New Mexico (Eli)  
> ★Six-year-old Bobby Darnall, who was killed in the lobby of Albuquerque's KiMo Theatre in 1951 when the building's boiler exploded, taking part of the building with it. His ghost appears to staff and guests, wearing a striped shirt and blue jeans. It's become part of the theater's tradition to leave doughnuts out for him to keep him from interfering with performances.
> 
> North Carolina (David)  
> ★The Pink Lady, who haunts Asheville's Omni Grove Park Inn. She appears more often to children, and is said to play with them, and take care of children who fall sick during their stay at the inn. She plays minor pranks on guests and is said to wear a pink debutante dress.
> 
> Vermont (Monty)  
> ★Emily, who haunts Gold Brook Bridge (AKA Emily's Bridge) a covered bridge in Stowe, Vermont. Some say that she was a jilted lover who hung herself. Others say that after being abandoned by her groom on her wedding day, she died in an accident on the bridge on her way to confront him.
> 
> Alabama (Josh)  
> ★Bear Creek Swamp in Prattville is home to the ghost of a mother looking for her lost child who attacks anyone who says the phrase "We have your baby" three times.
> 
> Wyoming (James)  
> ★The Lady in Green haunts Fort Laramie. Fort Laramie has a long history as a trading post and then as a military fort. Back when it was a trading post, the post leader's daughter rode off on a black horse, and never returned. According to legend, her ghost appears at Fort Laramie every seven years. She wears a long green riding dress and veiled riding hat and carries a jeweled whip, still atop her black stallion.
> 
> Alaska (Sasha)  
> ★The Lady in Black haunts Baranof Castle in Sitka, Alaska. It is said she was a Russian aristocrat who committed suicide on her wedding night, after having been forced to marry a man she did not love.
> 
> Wisconsin (Oliver)  
> ★Supposedly, an entire troop of boy scouts haunts Boy Scout Lane in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, despite being no evidence of dead boy scouts.
> 
> Tennessee (Tim)  
> ★The Bell Witch haunts Bell Witch Cave in Robertson County, Tennessee. She apparently likes to be called Kate. Interesting legend, but you'll have to google it as I don't have space.
> 
> Kansas (Addison)  
> ★Nick is the ghost of a Kansas State University Wildcat football player who was fatally injured during a game.


	3. two

Sam doesn't like talking to Lizzie.

Lizzie might have been acquitted, but something about her unsettles Sam.

She isn't the Spidergate Cemetary girl, who gleefully follows her around when Sam comes to get her one of her more unusual potion ingredients- graveyard dirt.

Lizzie might be lonely, but there is something  _odd_  about her.

Lizzie smiles in a way that says  _they'll never know if it was me_.

★★★★★

Caroline appears before hurricanes, so when there are sightings of the Blue Lady in Leamington, Daniel takes notice.  
•••  
When he first met her, he had flinched at her swirling blue irises. No human had eyes like a hurricane before it touched the shore.

Now, he had just accepted that Caroline Fripp was dead, that her ghost stayed to warn of incoming storms, that she had hurricane eyes.

Now, she tells him there's a storm coming and he listens.

★★★★★

Soldiers wander St. Paul's.

Not all of them are his- a few are Lizzy's, one or two is Will's.

It doesn't matter. They died here, and when they died and were buried, they became his.

Continentals, Yankees, and Confederates.

Scott thanks them all for their sacrifices.

★★★★★

Leah has been patrolling Washington Square for centuries, protecting the graves from robbers.

Will had known her when she was still alive. She'd been just as brave and loyal in life as she was in death.

She pauses her patrol a few moments to talk to him- asking after Del and Brooke both.

Will smiles as he says goodbye and Leah resumes her patrol.

★★★★★

Kikisoblu always has a way about her that makes him remember exactly who had taken care of him before Alfred. Whether it's the features they still share- few and far between nowadays- or the language she addresses him in, he isn't sure.

The people call her Princess Angeline, but that's just her English name.

She laughs as a tourist approaches only to blink in confusion as she fades out of his vision.

Aidan just shakes his head.

★★★★★

Emily notices the ghost before Nate does. The ghost giggles from where she sits on the gift table, swinging her feet, avidly watching the ceremony.

The bride kisses the groom, and Emily loses sight of the ghost in the celebration.  
•••  
Nate just raises an eyebrow when she tells him about the little girl ghost.

Then she elbows him during the reception- nodding her head towards the translucent girl dancing with herself.   
•••  
"I like weddings." The girl says. "They're so pretty and happy."

Emily smiles.

★★★★★

Mindy crosses her arms, and Ben smiles sheepishly.

"Give the workers back their tools."

Ben hums thoughtfully. "No thanks."

Mindy narrows her eyes. She was fresh out of hockey practice when she got the call from one of the workers that Ben was causing trouble again.

"Ben. I am not in the mood."

Ben's smile fades, taking in her attitude.

"Yes, ma'am."

★★★★★

"She won't stop crying." Effie whispers. 

Theo holds out a hand, brushing along the baby's head.

The baby stops crying. 

Effie sighs in relief.

Theo can't help but feel pity for the pair of ghosts.

★★★★★

The ghost opens the door almost absentmindedly as Flora and Scarlett pass.

Then he recognizes Flora. "Miss Jones! Back so soon? And with the girlfriend?"

Scarlett offers the ghost a smile. Flora just grins. "Yeah, we got invited to a reception or something. How're the others?"

"Oh, you know. The Lady sticks upstairs, the couple likes to stay in the ballroom." The mobster opens the door for a waitress with a tray. The waitress mutters a quick  _thank you_  to the empty air.

Flora waits until the ghost has dematerialized before leaving.

★★★★★

Caden thinks most ghosts are just sad and lonely. (Even though Ev has told him many times that that is not the case.)

It's certainly the case with Minnie Belle. She's just lonely.

It's so rare to hear such beautiful piano playing. Minnie's a gifted pianist, even as a ghost. 

She finishes the song, hands stilling on the keys. Caden claps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Massachusetts (Sam)  
> ★Lizzie Borden, who was acquitted of her stepmother and father's ax murders.
> 
> South Carolina (Daniel)  
> ★Caroline Fripp, also known as the Blue Lady, haunts the old lighthouse on Hilton Head Island. Her father, the lighthouse keeper, is said to have drowned in the hurricane of 1898. With no one else to keep the lighthouse's fires burning, Caroline took it upon herself, delivering oil to the top of the tower again and again until, finally, on one of her trips to the ground, the sea claimed her. Sightings increase right before and during hurricanes and storms.
> 
> Maryland (Scott)  
> ★The ghosts of soldiers in St. Paul's Cemetery in Chestertown. The soldiers span from the Revolution to the War of 1812 to the Civil War.
> 
> Pennsylvania (Will)  
> ★Leah, the ghost of a Quaker woman who guards the graves of Washington Square against grave robbers.
> 
> Washington (Aidan)  
> ★ Kikisoblu, or Princess Angeline, was the daughter of Chief Seattle of the Suquamish. Her ghost can be seen in Pike Place Market, where she sometimes appears to be sitting on a blanket with a handful of woven baskets for sale. Often tourists approach her to buy one, only to find she has disappeared when they get too close.
> 
> Utah (Emily)  
> ★ McCune Mansion, a popular venue for weddings, is haunted by a little girl of about 10 years of age who particularly enjoys when there are weddings taking place. She is often spotted at weddings where she can be seen dancing and giggling. There is a picture of the girl hanging up, so she was obviously a former resident.
> 
> Minnesota (Mindy)  
> ★Ben, the ghost of a stagehand at the Fitzgerald Theater. 
> 
> Oklahoma (Theo)  
> ★ Effie and her baby, who haunt Skirvin Hotel. Effie is the ghost of a hotel maid who jumped out of a window with her baby out of desperation and depression.
> 
> Florida (Flora)  
> ★Fatty Walsh, a mobster killed at the Coral Gables Biltmore hotel in the midst of a gambling dispute. He is said to open doors for the waitresses as they carry trays in and out of the restaurant.
> 
> Arkansas (Caden)  
> ★Minnie Belle and her father haunt their home, Peel Mansion. Minnie is often heard playing the piano as beautifully as she did in life.


	4. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Virginia

Al Capone might have been a murderer and a thief, but he understood loyalty.

So when he sees Cassidy for the first time since his death and recognizes that she is something  _other,_  he just purses his lips.

Cassidy crosses her legs under her skirt, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I'm guessing your name isn't Miss Jolliet."

"Cassidy Jones, actually. And in case you were wondering, I'm the human representation of the state of Illinois."

Capone's eyes narrow. "Did you-"

"Turn you in? No. I never ratted you out either. I'm no snitch."

★★★★★

It is a fact that personifications have a measure of control over their land and their citizens.

Even when the citizen in question is dead.

Michael might not be a mediator or whatever like Ev is, but he listened when his older sisters did their magical theory speeches. And he knows it takes a lot of energy for a ghost to harm a human, and even more to harm a personification.

Michael believes it is their job to protect their people, even if the people are ghosts.

So he stands in Traverse City State Hospital's basement and confronts the shadowy figure.

Michael can swear the ghost  _hisses_  at him when he tells it to leave the visitors and other ghosts alone.

Michael rolls his eyes. Next time the creepy ghost wants to scare people, he'll just call Sam and Ev. See how the ghost likes when its target hits them back- or in Sam's case, exorcises them with a charmed athame.

★★★★★

Ty leaves the flowers on the floor of the hall and waits.

After a while, the ghost appears. She picks up the flowers.

"Thank you for your service, Nurse Hortense Elizabeth Wind."

★★★★★

Cold Harbor always brings back memories.

Memories of the war, of her general.

The battle of Cold Harbor had been brutal and bloody.

Ginny clutches the spellbook tighter as a ghost appears. "Miss Elizabeth." He salutes, and if the sight of the gray uniform doesn't tear something in her heart... "What can I do for you today?"

Ginny holds the spellbook out.

It was full of spells even Sam had been horrified by.

The witch that had been killed for crimes against humanity had been European, but Rosalind had muttered something in Gaelic and run away when she saw it, and Astrid wasn't really a witch. They couldn't burn it.

"I need to bury this."

The soldier seems to understand the monstrosity of the thing she holds.

"I know a place."

He helps her dig the hole.

Other spirits come to watch the book be buried.

A few of them raise eyebrows when she tears the book into seven pieces and pours holy water on them until they drip, soaked through.

★★★★★

Cam doesn't mind Mary, even if she's a little odd.

In fact, the first time he'd encountered her ghost he'd been reminded of Cecilia- with the spirit's wild red hair and bright green eyes.

He visits when he wants to reminisce about the old colonial days with someone besides Monty.

★★★★★

Little Gracie Watson had been so young when she died. Only six.

When she had died, it had been one of those times Scarlett could feel her immortality acutely- all those years, all that blood and death. Like a weight.

Over a century later, and little Gracie still haunts her graveyard.

Scarlett smiles at the sight of the inquisitive little girl poking at a deck of Pokemon cards someone had left as a tribute.

★★★★★

Lani makes her way through the tourists until she gets to an area for restricted personnel only.

Callie follows more hesitantly.

Lani feels the ghosts seconds before they appear. Men that were not born hers, but had died for her.

She can feel a few soldiers reach out, touching her arms or her hair.

Ev had said that they would be attracted to her warmth- that they would register her presence because of it.

Callie hangs back, but a few ghosts must recognize their home state because they drift closer to her.

Callie never says anything. She accompanies Lani sure, but Cal doesn't speak on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor when Lani drags her out so she can pay her respects.

Lani doesn't mind- Cal's the only one who will come with her to honor her fallen soldiers.

★★★★★

Nate has always gotten along well with lost people.

Not the physically lost, of course. The emotionally lost. The druggies, alcoholics, gamblers, a majority of prostitutes.

And maybe he inherited Alfred's need to protect people, because there were  _so many_ Friday nights he spent on street corners, watching out for his girls.

Sometimes that protection can extend into death, because its Saturday and he could be calling his girlfriend but instead he's in Virginia City making sure Lena isn't getting any trouble from her murderer.

Lena smiles when she sees him, shaking her head at the silent question.

"Go home to your girlfriend, Nathaniel. The dead can take care of themselves."

★★★★★

Lucinda is dead.

Brooke had never hoped that her spirit would linger.

And she doesn't. Luce doesn't come back as a ghost. Philip hadn't come back either.

She isn't surprised to find herself at the Hamilton's old home.  
•••  
"I loved you." She blurts out the second Alexander comes into view.

Alexander blinks once, slowly. She didn't think ghosts could pale. "I loved you, but I was a stupid child then. But I have to thank you for teaching me that nothing lasts forever."

She leaves before he can speak, and doesn't come back for a long, long time.

★★★★★

Ravenswood holds some fond memories for Caleb. He'd brought Addy to one or two of the parties.

He steps around the pieces of the glass Christmas ornament to greet the ghost.

Nadine smiles, all anger forgotten at the sight of an old acquaintance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Illinois (Cassidy)  
> ★Al Capone haunts the Congress Plaza Hotel, which he used to own. He's rarely seen, but let's assume he'd make an appearance for his former bodyguard.
> 
> Michigan (Michael)  
> ★Traverse City State Hospital is haunted by multiple ghosts, including a disfigured, shadowy figure who is said to creep around the tunnels and basements. It also has a portal to hell. Seriously, what's with this country and portals to hell? There's like three in every state.
> 
> Iowa (Tyler)  
> ★Hortense Elizabeth Wind was a former Red Cross nurse during World War I who haunts Gold Star Hall at Iowa State University.
> 
> Virginia (Ginny)  
> ★Cold Harbor Battlefield is haunted by both Union and Confederate soldiers killed in the battle.
> 
> New Hampshire (Cam)  
> ★Mary, a woman with fiery red hair and green eyes, haunts Ocean-Born Mary House.
> 
> Georgia (Scarlett)  
> ★Gracie Watson died of pneumonia at age six in 1889. Her father was so devastated by her death that he commissioned a local artist to create a memorial for his daughter. The artist created a life-size sculpture that bore an uncanny resemblance to the girl. As a tribute, visitors to Gracie's grave often leave stuffed animals, toys, and money at her grave to this day. Little Gracie has been seen skipping among the headstones, or laughing and playing near her plot. It's said that if you remove any of the trinkets from her memorial, the statue's eyes will cry tears of blood.
> 
> Hawaii (Lani)  
> ★Pearl Harbor is haunted by the soldiers and personel that died on the day of the bombing.
> 
> Nevada (Nate)  
> ★Lena is the ghost of a prostitute murdered in a bedroom on the third floor of the Old Washoe Club in Virginia City. She is often seen on the spiral staircase. Her murderer – who committed suicide on the second floor – is also seen in the club from time to time. In addition to the spirits of Lena and her killer, there are also reports of the ghost of a teenage girl who was actually murdered in the basement.
> 
> New York (Brooke)  
> ★Alexander Hamilton haunts his old house occasionally.
> 
> Missouri (Caleb)  
> ★Nadine Leonard loved nothing more than entertaining at Ravenswood. After her death, a servant tried to enter Nadine's bedroom after her death to collect some clothing only to find the door locked from inside. It was agreed that the lock would have to be broken, but by the time the servant returned with the required tools the door was open. Also, Christmas ornaments are often thrown down the stairs, a broken music box randomly plays music despite not having worked for years and some visitors say they can hear music and laughter from the lawns, reminiscent of Nadine's lavish parties.


	5. four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: California, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, and West Virginia

It's practically a tradition that when rumors about ghost sightings get around, the state in question goes to verify them.

Kendall wouldn't set foot near Waverly Hills otherwise.

He can feel the death- it's a sickening, twisting feeling in his stomach.   
•••  
Kendall sighs at the sight of the child.

He can't be more than six or seven.

"Hello. My name's Kendall. What's yours?"

The boy smiles. "My name's Timmy." He holds up the ball. "Wanna play?"

Kendall feels a little sicker.  _What are the odds that this ghost would share a name with his lover?_

"Sure. You can tell me about the other spirits."  
•••  
"Kendall? Hey, what's up?"

Kendall sighs in relief. "Just needed to hear your voice."

★★★★★

Callie curtsies. "Miss Winchester." Alfred had taught manners were important.

Sarah inclines her head, barely glancing away from where she is supervising the never ending construction.

Cal leans against the banister, watching the ghosts wander.

Sarah has true sight. She can see them as well as Callie can. It isn't a rare ability in humans, but it is highly uncommon.

"Call me if any of them give you trouble again."

★★★★★

Evangeline is afraid of very few things.

But the LaLaurie mansion- evil festers in that house like gangrene on a wound.

Evangeline's heels click on the floor as she walks, and she reaches up to clasp her pendants. One was a talisman that the Voodoo Queen herself had made. Her skirts trail the floor, picking up dust and debris. She absentmindedly picks them up.  _She should have worn pants. Shouldn't have bothered with her stays and petticoats._

This house is evil.

The spirits are not.

She should have known what that woman was doing to her people. What that family had done in this house.

Evangeline pauses by the flickering form of one of the slave girls. The girl sobs, her legs sprawled beneath her in a way that isn't completely natural.

 _Leah_. Her mind provides.  _Her name was Leah. She was brushing Delphine's hair when she hit a snag, and Delphine took a whip and chased her for it. She fell to her death from the roof running from her._

Rage boils in Evangeline.

She kneels by Leah. "That woman, she will pay for what she has done. I promise."

Leah sniffles looking up at Evangeline's face. Whatever she sees there must satisfy her.

Evangeline learns the names and faces of every ghost that cannot find peace because of what was done to them.  
•••  
Across the ocean, in Paris, Madame Delphine LaLaurie is asleep.

That night, she dreams she is being tortured. Flayed by whips, holes drilled into her head, cut open, dismembered.

She dreams, and she wakes screaming.

LaLaurie only has to look at her family to know they have been visited by the same horrors.  
•••  
 _"How will you get this revenge?"_   _The spirits ask._

_Evangeline grins, a slow, lazy thing like the Mississippi River. "Mes amies, I deal in spirits and dreams. I have the blood of one of the greatest empires on this earth in my veins and the patience of an immortal. Wherever the Madame is, I will find her, and I will break her."_

★★★★★

"How're you today, Mamie?"

The woman rolls her eyes at West.

"Bored. Like always. Being dead is quite boring."

★★★★★

"Miss Katie Kerrigan, looking as pretty as ever."

The ghost maid smiles. "Flattery will get you-"

"Everywhere?" The other ghost finishes.

"Nowhere." Katie tells Henry with a frown.

Jules just laughs.

★★★★★

The ghosts watch her curiously as she places coins on certain graves.

Helena doesn't stop to talk- it's Veteran's day, and she has to get all the major military graveyards.

A ghost approaches at last. "Ma'am, I don't mean to interrupt, but what are you doing exactly?"

"Flowers rot. I leave pennies on the graves of soldiers instead, and usually, staff collects them for upkeep."

★★★★★

Cordelia has to sing in four minutes, but she feels like she's going to be sick.

Not out of nerves, no, she's performed with the choir many times.

She feels like she'll be sick from the sheer number of spirits.

Cincinnati Music Hall was built over a graveyard.

And an insane asylum.

And a Civil War hospital.

They took go big or go home way too seriously apparently.

★★★★★

Foster runs his fingers through his girlfriend's hair as they watch the movie.

He considers it a victory that Sam had never bothered with the armrest, and her head was on his shoulder.

Foster looks over when he feels her tense. "Foster. Love. Is this a haunted theater by any chance."

 _Oh_.

Then she had noticed.

"That isn't a happy spirit, love."

"Yeah, she's kind of pissed off."

★★★★★

"Miss Jones, perhaps you could muster the etiquette to not burst into people's offices."

Despite the somewhat harsh words, there is a teasing note to John Dickinson's voice.

Del grins. Not everyone is so lucky that one of their founding father sticks around. "I don't know, John, I'm quite attached to acting like a heathen."

★★★★★  
  
Cait's kind of a scaredy cat. 

Always has been. 

So when she hears the ghost scream- a real, blood-curdling, bloody-murder scream, she promptly  _nopes_  her way away from that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kentucky (Kendall)  
> ★Waverly Hills is a Sanatorium where an estimated 6000+ people died. One of the many ghosts there is a little boy called Timmy who died in Waverly Hills at the age of 6 or 7. He likes to play and paranormal investigators often bring balls and toys for him to play with.
> 
> California (Callie)  
> ★The Winchester Mystery House was built in 1884. However, construction never really stopped until the owner, Sarah Winchester, passed away in 1922. Sarah was the majority shareholder in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. It is believed that she spent around $5 million on construction. Sarah was convinced that her home was haunted by all of the victims killed by a Winchester Rifle and that the only way to quiet the spirits was to keep on building.
> 
> Louisiana (Evangeline)  
> ★Delphine LaLaurie was a New Orleans socialite and serial killer, infamous for torturing and murdering her household slaves. After a fire, several mutilated and tortured slaves were discovered, and LaLaurie and her family were forced to flee to France to escape the angry mob in New Orleans. The LaLaurie house is haunted by multiple spirits.
> 
> West Virginia (Wes)  
> ★Mamie Thurman was a flapper during the Prohibition era that was discovered dead on the lonely 22 Mine Road. A local handyman was charged with the murder, but most people believed it to be a well-known banker that Mamie had an affair with who was the real murderer. Her body disappeared and there are no records of a burial. Many believe her restless soul is haunting 22 Mine Road in search of justice and a final resting place.
> 
> Colorado (Jules)  
> ★Katie Kerrigan and Henry O'Callister both haunt the Hotel Jerome in Aspen. Katie was a maid that died of pneumonia after a cruel prank played on her by the other maids because they were jealous. Henry was a gentleman who died of a broken heart after the love of his life was forbidden from marrying him and forced to move away.
> 
> Montana (Helena)  
> ★Little Bighorn Battlefield and Custer National Cemetary- which are right beside each other- are both haunted.
> 
> Ohio (Cordelia)  
> ★Cincinnati Music Hall is super haunted.
> 
> Maine (Foster)  
> ★Strand Cinema is haunted by an angry woman. Sorry to any Maine natives out there, but it was hard to find something for Maine.
> 
> Delaware (Del)  
> ★John Dickinson haunts his childhood home.
> 
> Nebraska (Cait)  
> ★The spirit on Blackbird Hill is believed to be the ghost of a woman who was murdered by her husband after revealing her plans to leave him for an old lover. Her husband was understandably enraged, so much so that he stabbed his wife and then carried her to a nearby cliff where he jumped off into the river beneath them. They both died on impact. It has been said that every year on October 17, the anniversary of their death, the woman’s blood-curdling screams can be heard echoing around Blackbird Hill.


	6. five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Texas

Charlie is a doctor. A pacifist.

Do no harm is the motto she lives by. 

Oregon State Hospital as supposed to help people.

Instead, patients were abused. They were experimented on. It was overcrowded.

A ghost screams, and Charlie flinches. 

When one of the spirits reaches out to her, towards the summer warmth of Hermiston and Redmond, towards the vitality and life of Portland. She lets them, even stops walking as they clasp her wrist. 

She doesn't pull away, even as the cold seeps under her skin.

★★★★★

Kit remembers when he and Anna were younger- how they would play pirates and cowboys and knights together. 

And he remembers being thirteen and watching Buffalo Bill's Wild West for the first time. He remembers being amazed.

Calamity Jane sits on the top of her headstone, flickering feet propped on Wild Bill's stone. Her dying request had been to be buried beside him. (Kit thinks Bill's annoyed by her presence.) 

It had taken being shot in the back of the head to bring down Wild Bill. Kit thought Bill had been far too kind in his life to deserve his fate, but states can't really do much about fates. 

★★★★★

The White Lady does not speak. 

Connie knows that she puts Pax on edge.

Ghosts unsettle the familiar, but ghosts can recognize supernatural activity, and the White Lady has proven herself loyal many times.

★★★★★

"DOCTOR!"

Austin pauses, used to nurses being unable to catch up to him and resorting to yelling. 

He looks away from his clipboard and quickly hides his shock at the sight of the ghost. 

He'd seen her before, of course, but she never interacted with anything before. 

"Your patient is in the beginning stage of heart failure. Hurry."

★★★★★

The ghosts of soldier's children play together. 

They never knew each other in life, yet in death they are playmates.

Jacob is not much more than a child himself really, at thirteen. He wasn't even old enough to fight with his siblings in the war that had almost torn his family apart a decade ago.

So, Jacob stays and plays with the ghosts.

★★★★★

Adam hated Burrillville. 

Sam and Brooke talked about the bad energy in Salem and Amityville, but Burrillville makes him feel sick. 

He'd once tried to watch  _The Conjuring_  with Nicky, and he'd gotten halfway through before he couldn't watch anymore.

Some ghosts won't listen, even to their personification.

★★★★★

Nothing against his siblings, but the majority of them were white. 

And none were as dark as Evangeline and Drew.

The plantations hurt them, but not as bad as they hurt Ev and Drew.

•••

Drew sometimes wishes he had asked Evangeline to find the slave trader and his wife when they were alive. 

He knows what she had done to LaLaurie, and it had never once scared him or disgusted him.

He wished he had thought to ask.

Because what happened at Longfellow house was  _evil_.

The translucent spirits drift through the house- slaves.

(The idea of slaves had always disgusted him- the idea that value was based on the melanin in your skin.)

Today, he tells the spirits that a black man has been elected President of the United States.

★★★★★

"...so basically, you bleed to death because you stopped to drink after you robbed a bank and the guard shot you."

The ghost flushes. "It sounds stupid when you say it like that."

Marisol rolls her eyes. 

★★★★★

"You watch football?" The ghost asks. 

George had started hanging around once he realized Riley could see him without trying. 

Riley shuts his books. "God yes, let's go watch football so I can procrastinate some more."

★★★★★

The sight is just one of Annalise's mixed blessing-curses. 

Therefore, she is unfazed by the presence in North Dakota State's basement. 

Even if it looks like something from the Conjuring, it doesn't scare her.

Anna fingers the switchblade in her back pocket and the ghost backs off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oregon (Charlie)  
> ★Oregon State Hospital is haunted by spirits of former patients. It was once an asylum. 
> 
> South Dakota (Kit)  
> ★Calamity Jane and Wild Bill are two performers from Buffalo Bill's Wild West. They're both buried in the Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood.
> 
> Texas (Austin)  
> ★A nurse haunts North Texas State Hospital. 
> 
> Idaho (Sky)  
> ★Fort Boise Military Cemetery is haunted by the children of soldiers due to a number of disinterred and unmarked graves have allegedly resulted in sightings of soldiers' children
> 
> Rhode Island (Adam)  
> ★A farmhouse Burrillville was haunted by Bathsheba Sherman, a practicing Satanist who allegedly murdered her young daughter as a sacrifice. The story was dramatized in the film The Conjuring.
> 
> Mississippi (Drew)  
> ★The Pollock House, also known as The Bellevue and Longfellow House, was the home of a slave trader and his evil and sadistic wife. She would supposedly beat the slaves so severely that many would die of their wounds. Today, the place is said to be haunted by the ghosts of those tormented slaves. They make their presence known by slamming doors, throwing objects, and slapping employees.
> 
> Arizona (Marisol)  
> ★The Hotel Monte Vista is haunted by multiple spirits besides the bank robber. See them here: http://www.hotelmontevista.com/site/page/view/ghostStories
> 
> Indiana (Riley)  
> ★George “Gripper” Gipp haunts the University of Notre Dame. Gipp contracted a fatal case of pneumonia after sleeping on the steps instead of facing his brother for violating curfew.
> 
> North Dakota (Anna)  
> ★North Dakota State basement triggers a strong flight or fight reaction, and there have been reports of a spirit.


	7. epilogue

_Ghosts were once living things. In one way or another, peacefully or violently, their life has ended._

_The ghosts who had their lives stolen from them are angry, and they have a right to be angry._  

_For a human to become a spirit suggests unfinished business, and the spirits that were killed-their lives cut short- have the most unfinished business and the most emotion._

_Therefore, it is often that ghosts who died violently are the most powerful. However, just because a spirit is powerful does not make it evil._

_The majority of spirits are benevolent or neutral._

_There is no reason to fear them._

_-Evangeline Jones's Grimoire, dated 1876_

 


End file.
